Has anyone every heard of finishing off basement perimeter walls by gluing styrofoam insulation to the concrete and then gluing drywall to the styrofoam? I have a friend that did this 2 years ago and his walls look good so far. The room never had moisture problems so he used liquid nails and chiselled out about 1/2" for electrical boxes. sheathed electrical cable was already in the house so this was run down the walls to the box. I was with him when he did it. It was awkward to push the walls up but with some boards angling to the floor and ceiling he got it to stick real good. I'm worried long term for him and if a code violation could affect him when he goes to sell his home. He's also suggesting I do it to my basement. Saves on framing, but is it okay???
there is always the chance if the basement was not 'water-proofed'and only 'dampproofed' that effloresance(concrete salts) could migrate out of the foundation and push the glue loose. and the glue needs to be fully compatible with styrofoam.
I've recently remodeled a basement that the previous owner did that was very similar. He used some type of an adhesive that looked very much like liquid nails between the block and the styrofoam, he also used and anchor system using what looks like lead sleeves put in holes that he drilled in the block, then used washers and 1/4" screws to secure the foam, he then used the same adhesive to apply paneling instead of drywall. I don't know when this was done, but we found an old newspaper from 1975 that was in one of the interior walls so maybe that's when it was done. All the walls that were susceptible to moisture where very easy to remove that foam and paneling, and once removed the adhesive would chip off just by using a finger nail, however one wall that was on a wall that had the front porch was a bear to remove. I hope this might help in your decision on what to do, like I said I don't know if it was done in 1975 or maybe 1995, so if may have held up for a good long while. The one good thing about framing is with good lumber u know you're gonna have straight wall with no waves. Good luck
Brian Csukas
Brian Csukas
You wouldn't be able to run sheathed electrical cable like that, it would have to be run in conduit. sheathed electrical cable needs a minimum of 1 1/4" from the front edge of the wire to the back of the drywall so that a typical 1 1/2" drywall screw will not pierce the insulation of the wire.
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